1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to kitchen appliances and, more particularly, to apparatus for venting heat, smoke, gasses, and the like, from a surface cooking appliance. More specifically, the invention is a portable airflow director for ventilating a cook top adjacent to a cooking unit an existing surface cooking appliance and is removably receivable over an outlet in the cook top in communication with a suction exhaust of the down draft type.
2. Description of the Prior Art
A common type of cooking unit designed for domestic use is the cooking range wherein electrical resistor or gas burner heater units are mounted in a counter top within a kitchen area of a home Numerous types of apparatus have been devised for providing ventilation of the vapors generated during cooking on such units. For example, a hood may be positioned over the cooking unit to draw off effluents such as smoke, heat, vapor, grease or other particles generated during cooking The aforementioned range hoods provide effective ventilation since their positioning above the cooking unit compliments the natural convection of the cooking effluents. However, the size and bulkiness of the hood often makes it less aesthetically pleasing within a domestic kitchen.
A more recent approach is to mount the ventilator or suction assembly beside or within the cooking unit so that the ventilator opening receiving the cooking effluents lie flush with the surface of the cooking range unit. Typical of such cooking ranges are U.S. Pat. No. 3,409,005 assigned to Jenn-Air Corporation of Indianapolis, Ind. This "down-draft" cooking range ventilator possesses the advantage of both compactness and aesthetic appeal to the consumer. However, such down-draft ventilators do suffer from a number of disadvantages. For example, although smoke, particles and other fumes are mostly removed from the general area surrounding the cooking range during cooking, there still exits visible as well as invisible flow or vaporized grease or particles that are not sufficiently pulled within the suction inlet of the ventilator. Consequently, if the fumes containing the grease and smoke are excessive, the down-draft ventilator is insufficient to withdraw all of the effluent into the suction inlet for discharge. Smoke and fumes which escape the ventilator are often then deposited along the ceiling and walls of the kitchen or in the area immediately adjacent the stove. Over a period of time such deposits can accumulate causing problem which is not only unsightly and requires extensive clean up, it is also a potential fire and health hazard. Present attempts to remedy the problem have relied upon installation of an electric motor which is sufficiently powerful to remove all the vapors generated during cooking This approach has almost always fallen short of expectations
Other, more recent, patented examples of this approach are disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,231,972 to Galassi issued Aug. 3, 1993, U.S. Pat. No. 4,934,337 to Falk issued Jun. 19, 1990, and U.S. Pat. No. 4,446,849 to McFarland issued May 8, 1984.
The following U.S. patents all disclose stationary ventilating flues for use with surface cooking units which, in some instances, have dampers which may be moved between open and closed positions: U.S. Pat. No. 4,766,880 to von Blanquet issued Aug. 30, 1988, U.S. Pat. No. 4,291,668 to Moeller issued Sep. 29, 1981, and U.S. Pat. No. 3,712,819 to Field issued Jan. 23, 1973.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,279,279 to White issued Jan. 18, 1994 is particularly pertinent to the present invention, disclosing an adjustable deflector device for selective positioning above the ventilator of a cooking range of the type where the ventilator is disposed adjacent to and flush with the cooking range heating elements.
It was with knowledge of the foregoing disclosures representative of the state of the art that the present invention was conceived and has now been reduced to practice.